PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania volleyball team looked like it was on its way to a season-ending victory on Saturday night, up 2-1 in sets against Harvard and leading 12-9 in the fourth. However, the Crimson roared back to win the set, then kept the momentum early into the fifth in running away from the Quakers for a 3-2 victory.
Set scores were 16-25, 25-23, 17-25, 25-16, 15-9. Prior to the match, the program celebrated its senior class of
Claire Deller,
Feyi Ogunlari,
Abigail Reid,
Anna Shohfi and
Jalen Tennyson.
With the result, Penn and Harvard tied for fifth place in the Ivy League standings with 6-8 records. The Quakers ended the 2025 season with a 12-12 mark overall.
Quaker Notemeal
*Junior
Zada Sanger led the Penn attack again on Saturday, putting down 17 kills which gave her 38 for the weekend. She hit .400 on Saturday (17K-3E-35A) and added two digs.
*Sophomore
Jenna Garner finished the season with her fifth straight kill/dig double-double, putting down 11 kills and coming up with 12 digs.
*Sophomore
Ellie Siskin added nine kills and junior
Bella Rittenberg had seven.
*Seniors
Jalen Tennyson and
Claire Deller—who both started Saturday's match, their final one wearing the Red and Blue—had five and four kills, respectively. Tennyson also had Penn's only block solo and a team-high three block assists, while Deller finished with two block assists.
*Another senior,
Abigail Reid, was in the libero position again on Saturday and led all players with 14 digs, She also had six assists and a service ace.
*Sophomore
Emery Moore led the Quakers with 27 assists and had nine digs, while senior
Anna Shohfi had 14 assists and five digs.
How It Happened
SET 1 (Penn 25-16): The Quakers used a 5-1 run early on, but the Crimson came back and drew level at 8-8. The teams tied at every score up to 14-14, at which point a Harvard attack error started Penn on a six-point run that included three Garner kills. Overall, the Red and Blue outscored the Crimson 11-2 on the way to the first-set victory. Garner finished with four kills and hit .500, while Deller had three kills and hit .750 and Sanger put down two kills while hitting .500.
SET 2 (Harvard 25-23): Another close set that saw the teams tied seven times, the last time at 19-19. The Crimson scored the next three points, but Tennyson followed a Harvard attack error with a kill to make the score 22-21 and force a Crimson timeout. The stoppage worked: Harvard scored the next two points to get to set point, and while Siskin fended one off and a Crimson attack error continued to give Penn life, another timeout by the visitors worked again as a Brynne Faltinsky kill gave Harvard the 25-23 win. Sanger had six kills and hit .455 in the set, while Garner put down five and had nine digs.
SET 3 (Penn 25-17): Harvard led, 10-6, but Rittenberg put down a kill and then Tennyson was part of blocks on the next two points—one with Siskin and one with Garner. Moore served up an ace after that, tying the set at 10-10, and then a Tennyson kill put the Quakers in front. Harvard scored the next point, only for Tennyson to put down another kill between a pair of Crimson attack errors. Overall, Penn used a 12-2 run in extending its lead to 18-12 on the way to victory. Sanger had four kills and hit .500, while Rittenberg put down three kills.
SET 4 (Harvard 25-16): The teams were tied five times to 9-9, but a Rittenberg kill was followed by a Deller ace that started a three-point run and brought about a Harvard timeout. Once again, the stoppage worked: the Crimson scored the next four points, then responded to a service error with another five-point run to go in front 18-13. Harvard never looked back from there. Sanger put down four kills and hit .375, while Siskin had three kills.
SET 5 (Harvard 15-9): The Crimson jumped all over the Quakers in the final set, scoring the first six points as Ryleigh Patterson led the charge with three kills and a block. Penn couldn't recover, never getting closer than five as the teams essentially traded points the rest of the way.
Up Next
Saturday's game marked the end of the season.
For the latest on Penn volleyball, follow @PennVolleyball on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.
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